Translate

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Novels of the Hundred Years' War

In the late 1330s, Edward III claimed the French throne, beginning the Hundred Years' War between England and France. His son (known as Edward the Black Prince because of the black ground on his coat of arms) led the English troops in many of the early campaigns of this war. In 1415, Henry V of England won the Battle of Agincourt, largely because of the skills of his Welsh and English longbowmen. In 1429, the tides of fortune turned to favor the French, largely due to the nationalistic fervor and more aggressive campaign tactics inspired by Joan of Arc. Joan of Arc was a French teenager who, believing herself to be guided by divine visions, took a leadership role in the French military efforts to recapture territory conquered by the English. Though she was captured and burned at the stake as a heretic in 1431, the English never regained their previous momentum in the war, and the French finally defeated them in 1453.
For an article about Joan of Arc with a list of nonfiction books and novels about her, see Green World/Stone World: The Two Worlds of Joan of Arc.

Click on the title for more information from Powell's Books or another online source, or if you're outside the U.S., try The Book Depository.

Ann Benson, Thief of Souls (2002), about two strangely linked crime waves, one in modern Los Angeles, the other in medieval France involving Gilles de Rais.Joy Bounds, Far From Home (2012), about Joan of Arc as narrated by her mother; self-published.

Bernard Cornwell, Harlequin (2000; titled The Archer's Tale in the U.S.), about an Englishman from Dorset who becomes a soldier and fights in France during the Hundred Years War; #1 in the Grail Quest series.Bernard Cornwell, Vagabond (2002), about an English soldier during the Hundred Years War who returns to England following a hint that the Holy Grail may actually exist, and becomes involved in a war with the Scots; #2 in the Grail Quest series.Bernard Cornwell, Heretic (2003), about an English soldier during and after the fall of Calais in the Hundred Years War; #3 in the Grail Quest series.Bernard Cornwell, Azincourt (2008; titled Agincourt in the U.S.), about an archer in the army of King Henry V of England during the campaign that led to the victory at Agincourt (spelled Azincourt by the French); #4 in the Grail Quest series, but stands alone. ReviewBernard Cornwell, 1356 (2012), about an English soldier who fights in the Battle of Poitiers on September 19, 1356, leading to an unlikely victory against heavy odds; #5 in the Grail Quest series, but stands alone.

Kimberly Cutter, The Maid (2011), about Joan of Arc.Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The White Company (1891), about English soldiers fighting in France during the Hundred Years War.Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Nigel (1906), about English soldiers fighting in France during the Hundred Years War; a prequel to The White Company.Deryn Lake, The King's Women (2006), about Charles VII of France, the king helped to his throne by Joan of Arc.Rosemary Hawley Jarman, St. Crispin's Day: The Glory of Agincourt(1979), about the young King Henry V and his campaign against the French that led to his victory at Agincourt in 1415.Thomas Keneally, Blood Red, Sister Rose (1974), a literary novel about Joan of Arc from the time she began hearing voices until her capture by the Burgundians. ReviewRosanne Lortz, I Serve: A Novel of the Black Prince (2009), about Sir John Potenhale, a knight in the service of Edward, the Black Prince, during the Hundred Years' War; self-published.Robert Nye, The Life and Death of My Lord Gilles de Rais (1990), about the murderer of young boys who fought alongside Joan of Arc.Maureen Peters, Joan of the Lilies (1969), a short biographical novel about Joan of Arc.Lawrence Schoonover, The Burnished Blade (1948), about an armourer's apprentice in France near the end of the Hundred Years War; the novel opens as he witnesses the execution of Joan of Arc.Mark Twain, Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, by the Sieur Louis de Conte (1895; also published under the title Joan of Arc), a novel about Joan of Arc narrated by her page.

The Black Plague

From the mid-fourteenth century, on, Europe was stricken by a series of terrifying visitations from the Black Plague, which decimated the population. The epidemic began in the port cities carried, we now know, by rats harboring fleas whose bites spread the disease, which was later spread further by contact between infected people. Some, believing the plague to a punishment sent by God, adopted extreme penitent practices or began persecuting Jews. Others shed moral inhibitions and lived for the moment. The decline in population made workers scarce, so that serfs began to demand freedom and free workers better wages and working conditions.

Click on the title for more information from Powell's Books or another online source, or if you're outside the U.S., try The Book Depository.

Ann Benson, Plague Tales (1997), about an archaeologist in the near future who inadvertently starts a new plague epidemic and a medieval Jewish physician linked to the outbreak.Ann Benson, The Burning Road (1999), about the plague in medieval France and a medical researcher in a near future time of runaway genetic engineering; #2 in the Plague Tales series.Ann Benson, The Physician's Tale (2006), about a medical researcher in the near future and a medieval physician; #3 in the Plague Tales series.Linnea Heinrichs, The First Vial (2006), about a fourteenth-century noblewoman struggling to keep her castle and land during a plague epidemic.Karen Maitland, Company of Liars: A Novel of the Plague (2008), about a group of fourteenth-century travelers trying to escape the plague and the truth about themselves. ReviewSylvia Townsend Warner, The Corner That Held Them (1948), about a community of Benedictine nuns in Norfolk during a fourteenth-century outbreak of the Black Plague.Connie Willis, Doomsday Book (1992), a novel about a woman of the future who time-travels to plague-stricken England in the fourteenth century.

The English Peasants' Rebellion

As the Hundred Years' War dragged on, English monarchs levied higher taxes on poor workers in order to finance it, creating hardships for workers whose lives were already difficult. With the population reduced by plague, workers came to realize their labor was in higher demand, and they began to protest the harsh and degrading conditions under which they lived. In June 1381, after Parliament passed a law requiring wages to be reduced to the old rates, Wat Tyler led a group of rebels in a march on London. Their success in negotiating concessions was only temporary.

Click on the title for more information from Powell's Books or another online source, or if you're outside the U.S., try The Book Depository.

Prudence Andrew, The Constant Star (1964), about the English Peasants' Rebellion.Philip Lindsay, The Golden Cage (1961), about Wat Tyler and the 1381 English Peasants' Rebellion.Elizabeth Lord, Company of Rebels (2006), about a fourteenth-century blacksmith who leads a group of villagers to London to protest the oppressive poll tax and, ultimately, to join the English Peasants' Rebellion.Philippa Wiat, The Hammer and the Sword (1992), about Wat Tyler, the leader of the 1381 English Peasants' Rebellion; U.K. publication, hard to find in the U.S.Simone Zelitch, The Confession of Jack Straw (1991), about one of the leaders of the English Peasants' Revolt of 1381.

Scotland

King Edward I of England pursued numerous military campaigns against both Wales and Scotland, both of which were essentially under English control by the end of the thirteenth century. The Scottish knight William Wallace led an unsuccessful uprising against England and was captured and executed as a traitor by the English in 1305. Robert the Bruce, crowned King of Scotland in 1306, continued to fight against England and finally won a decisive military victory at Bannockburn in 1314. Edward I's ambitious grandson Edward III renewed the wars against Scotland as well as pursuing a claim to the throne of France which began the Hundred Years' War.

Click on the title for more information from Powell's Books or another online source, or if you're outside the U.S., try The Book Depository.

Darci Hannah, The Angel of Blythe Hall (2011), about a woman who returns to her family estate in Scotland during a time of warfare in the fifteenth century and is haunted by dreams of angels.Geoffrey Humphrys, The Wild Knight (2008), about King James IV of Scotland, who came to the throne at age sixteen, became an effective national leader, but died in the disastrous Battle of Flodden Field; not readily available in the U.S.Julianne Lee, Knight Tenebrae, historical romance/fantasy about a modern British reporter and an American Navy pilot and his wife stranded together in the fourteenth-century Scotland of Robert the Bruce, while an inhuman enemy schemes to destroy them and all mankind; #1 in the Tenebrae series.Julianne Lee, Knight's Blood, historical romance/fantasy about a modern Navy pilot and his wife stranded in fourteenth-century Scotland, whose child has been kidnapped by the elfin king; #2 in the Tenebrae series.Julianne Lee, Knight's Lady, historical romance/fantasy about a modern Navy pilot and his wife stranded in fourteenth-century Scotland, and separated when the wife is taken to the faerie country; #3 in the Tenebrae series.Robert Low, The Lion Wakes (2011), about a nobleman whose family assigns him, as a political strategy, to join the rebellion of Robert the Bruce and William Wallace against England; #1 in the Kingdom series. ReviewRobert Low, The Lion at Bay (2012), about William Wallace as he returns to Scotland after fleeing to France after his failed rebellion, and Robert the Bruce as he defers his goal of becoming king because of rivalry among the clans; #2 in the Kingdom series.Allan Massie, The Hanging Tree (1990), about a fifteenth-century Scottish border family.Elisabeth McNeill, Flodden Field (2008), about James IV of Scotland and the Battle of Flodden Field.Jane Oliver, The Lion is Come (1951), about the Scottish king Robert the Bruce.N. Gemini Sasson, The Crown in the Heather(2010), about the rivalry of Robert the Bruce and John Balliol for the throne of Scotland; #1 in the Bruce trilogy; self-published.N. Gemini Sasson, Worth Dying For (2011), about the rise of Robert the Bruce; #2 in the Bruce trilogy; self-published.Reay Tannahill, The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1985), set in fifteenth-century Scotland during the reign of King James I of Scotland.

Nigel Tranter, The Wallace (1975), about William Wallace, the medieval Scottish knight who led a revolt against England.Nigel Tranter, The Islesman (2002), about Angus Og MacDonald, Prince of the Hebrides and much of the West Highlands of Scotland in the early fourteenth-century, the time of Robert the Bruce.Nigel Tranter, The Steps to the Empty Throne (1969), about Robert the Bruce, who became King of the Scots in 1306; #1 in the Bruce trilogy.Nigel Tranter, The Path of the Hero King (1970), about Robert the Bruce, who became King of the Scots in 1306; #2 in the Bruce trilogy.Nigel Tranter, The Price of the King's Peace (1971), about Robert the Bruce, who became King of the Scots in 1306; #3 in the Bruce trilogy.Nigel Tranter, Flowers of Chivalry (1987), about the struggle to preserve medieval Scotland's independence after the death of Robert the Bruce.Nigel Tranter, Courting Favour (2000), about John of Moray, who served as a diplomat for King David of Scots in the fourteenth century and negotiated a peace treaty with England's John of Gaunt.Nigel Tranter, Lords of Misrule (1976), about Jamie Douglas, the bastard son of a Scottish lord, and the turbulent rise of the Stewart family, who were descended from the daughter of Robert the Bruce; #1 in the Stewart trilogy. ReviewNigel Tranter, A Folly of Princes (1977), about the turbulent rise of the Stewart family, who were descended from the daughter of Robert the Bruce; #2 in the Stewart trilogy.Nigel Tranter, The Captive Crown (1977), about the turbulent rise of the Stewart family, who were descended from the daughter of Robert the Bruce; #3 in the Stewart trilogy.Nigel Tranter, The End of the Line (2000), about the unlikely fifteenth-century friendship between the Scottish Earl of Dunbar and King Henry IV of England.Nigel Tranter, Lion Let Loose (1967), about the first James Stewart to be crowned King of Scots.Nigel Tranter, The Lion's Whelp (1997), about King James II of Scots, who came to the throne at age seven in 1437 when his father was murdered.Nigel Tranter, Black Douglas (1968), about the eighth Earl of Douglas.

Carol Umberger, Circle of Honor (2002), about the fourteenth-century Scottish hero Robert the Bruce; #1 in the Scottish Crown series; Christian message.Laura Vosika, Blue Bells of Scotland (2009), about a modern man and a man of the fourteenth century who find themselves switching times, with the modern man sent back to Scotland shortly before the Battle of Bannockburn as the medieval Scot is sent to the 21st century; #1 in a planned trilogy; self-published.Jack Whyte, Rebel (2010; titled The Forest Laird in Canada and the U.S.), about William Wallace, a Scottish leader who rebelled against England in the late thirteenth century; #1 in the Bravehearts/Guardians trilogy.Robyn Young, Insurrection (2010), about Robert the Bruce of Scotland and Edward I of England; #1 in a planned series.